Research Type and Level of Evidence: AJOT Research Articles, 2016–2021
| Category . | n (%) . | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 (N = 91) . | 2020 (N = 93) . | 2019 (N = 91) . | 2018 (N = 85) . | 2017 (N = 81) . | 2016 (N = 89) . | |
| Research type | ||||||
| Effectiveness | 18 (19.8) | 22 (23.7) | 24 (26.4) | 28 (32.9) | 19 (23.5) | 26 (29.2) |
| Instrument development and testing | 10 (11.0) | 18 (19.4) | 18 (19.8) | 15 (17.6) | 8 (9.9) | 14 (15.7) |
| Basica | 15 (16.5) | 15 (16.1) | 23 (25.3) | 17 (20.0) | 27 (33.4) | 28 (31.5) |
| Professional issues | 4 (4.4) | 1 (1.1) | 8 (8.8) | 5 (5.9) | 1 (1.2) | 2 (2.2) |
| Health services | 1 (1.1) | 0 | 0 | 2 (2.4) | 1 (1.2) | 4 (4.5) |
| Systematic reviewsb | 20 (22.0) | 24 (25.8) | 8 (8.8) | 17 (20.0) | 17 (21.0) | 15 (16.9) |
| Education | 4 (4.4) | 6 (6.4) | 7 (7.7) | 1 (1.2) | 4 (4.9) | — |
| Methodology | 1 (1.1) | 3 (3.2) | 3 (3.3) | — | 4 (4.9) | — |
| Exploratory or qualitative inquiry | 18 (19.8) | 4 (4.3) | — | — | — | — |
| Level of evidence (effectiveness studies)c | ||||||
| I | 19 (59.4) | 16 (41.0) | 14 (48.3) | 23 (53.5) | 23 (67.6) | 13 (37.1) |
| II | 5 (15.6) | 1 (2.6) | 0 | 1 (2.3) | 0 | 2 (5.7) |
| III | 7 (21.9) | 11 (28.2) | 8 (27.6) | 14 (32.6) | 7 (20.6) | 12 (34.3) |
| IV | 1 (3.1) | 8 (20.5) | 3 (10.3) | 3 (7.0) | 3 (8.9) | 5 (14.3) |
| V | 0 | 3 (7.7) | 3 (10.3) | 2 (4.7) | 1 (2.9) | 3 (8.6) |
| Unable to be classified | 0 | 0 | 1 (3.4) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Category . | n (%) . | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 (N = 91) . | 2020 (N = 93) . | 2019 (N = 91) . | 2018 (N = 85) . | 2017 (N = 81) . | 2016 (N = 89) . | |
| Research type | ||||||
| Effectiveness | 18 (19.8) | 22 (23.7) | 24 (26.4) | 28 (32.9) | 19 (23.5) | 26 (29.2) |
| Instrument development and testing | 10 (11.0) | 18 (19.4) | 18 (19.8) | 15 (17.6) | 8 (9.9) | 14 (15.7) |
| Basica | 15 (16.5) | 15 (16.1) | 23 (25.3) | 17 (20.0) | 27 (33.4) | 28 (31.5) |
| Professional issues | 4 (4.4) | 1 (1.1) | 8 (8.8) | 5 (5.9) | 1 (1.2) | 2 (2.2) |
| Health services | 1 (1.1) | 0 | 0 | 2 (2.4) | 1 (1.2) | 4 (4.5) |
| Systematic reviewsb | 20 (22.0) | 24 (25.8) | 8 (8.8) | 17 (20.0) | 17 (21.0) | 15 (16.9) |
| Education | 4 (4.4) | 6 (6.4) | 7 (7.7) | 1 (1.2) | 4 (4.9) | — |
| Methodology | 1 (1.1) | 3 (3.2) | 3 (3.3) | — | 4 (4.9) | — |
| Exploratory or qualitative inquiry | 18 (19.8) | 4 (4.3) | — | — | — | — |
| Level of evidence (effectiveness studies)c | ||||||
| I | 19 (59.4) | 16 (41.0) | 14 (48.3) | 23 (53.5) | 23 (67.6) | 13 (37.1) |
| II | 5 (15.6) | 1 (2.6) | 0 | 1 (2.3) | 0 | 2 (5.7) |
| III | 7 (21.9) | 11 (28.2) | 8 (27.6) | 14 (32.6) | 7 (20.6) | 12 (34.3) |
| IV | 1 (3.1) | 8 (20.5) | 3 (10.3) | 3 (7.0) | 3 (8.9) | 5 (14.3) |
| V | 0 | 3 (7.7) | 3 (10.3) | 2 (4.7) | 1 (2.9) | 3 (8.6) |
| Unable to be classified | 0 | 0 | 1 (3.4) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Note. Research categories are based on those developed by Richards (2015). Percentages may not add to 100 because of rounding. AJOT = American Journal of Occupational Therapy; — = not applicable.
Includes studies used to establish relationships between conditions and occupational limitations, prevalence or incidence of conditions or client factors, predictors of outcomes, or taxonomies.
Includes scoping reviews and reviews of intervention effectiveness and basic research.
Based on the AOTA Evidence-Based Practice Project’s guidelines for systematic reviews, available at https://research.aota.org/ajot/pages/authorguidelines); effectiveness studies include systematic reviews of effectiveness studies but do not include scoping reviews; systematic reviews of instruments; or diagnostic, prevalence, or incidence studies.